Been away for a while

[flyguy06]

Hello all,

I have been away for awhile. I was at the SERWE and just got back last night. See my post in the Encampment Forum. Glad to be back online and will read all the messages and try to catch up. I have a new appreciation for CAP

[Tubacap]

Why?  Just interested.

[flyguy06]

Its too long and I dont really want to go indepth. Lets just say I realize now that differant Wings do things totally different and some Wings are realy a whole seperate CAP in themselves.

[RiverAux]

Where did you think the term "Wing King" came from?  Each is its own kingdom.  However, I think things are getting a little better on that front. 

[Ned]

It can be surprising how much encampments in different wings can differ in "look and feel" even though they (presumeably) all meet the same criteria.

And very, very few people visit encampments in more than one wing.


I hope to visit a number of encampments this summer and take some video to try to get a handle of just how much we vary.

Ned Lee
DCP, PCR

[flyguy06]

I'll say this little bit. We had a dining in. Now I have been in the military for 19 years. been to a great nuber of dining ins and they were basically all the same. But at this one, there was no reading of the history of dining ins. There was no formal Grog ceremony. There was a Mr. Vice, but the President of theMess did more talking than Mr. Vice did. It was totally different that I am accustomed to.

We had a Pass and review with no speaker. No thank you to the parents for sending their cadets down or anything.

But I need to stop now. Again, I am not in the proper state of mind to give an objective opinion, because we had a lot of success there and I really want that to be known. The cadets learned a lot about followership and how to work as a Team. I saw a lot of cadets change in that short period of time and that was a blessing.

[Stonewall]

The cadets learned a lot about followership and how to work as a Team. I saw a lot of cadets change in that short period of time and that was a blessing.

And that's the important thing.

A lot of times as seniors, we see the behind the scenes stuff; the decision making, good, bad and ugly.  The things Cadet Tentpeg standing out there in flight will never see.  To them, it may have been the best experience in their life to that point.

I've been to great encampments and I've been to terrible encampments. 

Best one was my first, Tyndall AFB (FLWG) in 1987.

Worst, won't say where or when, but put it this way, I called an ambulance and police on two separate occasions.  Cadets basically stood around doing nothing, ran around without supervision and logistics were no better.  As a TAC I personally chewed out the Encampment Commander who had no clue how to run a flight, let alone an encampment.  He created a "hospital" out of a barracks bay where the sick and injured could be treated and recover.  It's one of those "book them and they will come".  Soon, we had about 20 cadets lining up to get out of PT, work details, or otherwise homesick.

Anyhoo, one day I want to run an encampment, but I fear that I'll put too much into it and burn myself out.  One time, I suggested to a few of the folks in CAP that I trust, mostly guys with 15 to 30 years experience in CAP as cadet, senior and military, to get together and put one solid encampment to go down in the history books.

Anyway, I hope you realize that no matter what, just as a senior, you (FlyGuy) influenced more than a few cadets.  If you went home knowing that you made a difference, as did the encampment as a whole, then don't worry about the rest.   If anything, take good notes and change things in the future.  As I said in the Army, I learned more from bad leaders than I did from good.  Same goes for things like encampment.

[flyguy06]

The cadets learned a lot about followership and how to work as a Team. I saw a lot of cadets change in that short period of time and that was a blessing.

And that's the important thing.

A lot of times as seniors, we see the behind the scenes stuff; the decision making, good, bad and ugly.  The things Cadet Tentpeg standing out there in flight will never see.  To them, it may have been the best experience in their life to that point.

I've been to great encampments and I've been to terrible encampments. 

Best one was my first, Tyndall AFB (FLWG) in 1987.

Worst, won't say where or when, but put it this way, I called an ambulance and police on two separate occasions.  Cadets basically stood around doing nothing, ran around without supervision and logistics were no better.  As a TAC I personally chewed out the Encampment Commander who had no clue how to run a flight, let alone an encampment.  He created a "hospital" out of a barracks bay where the sick and injured could be treated and recover.  It's one of those "book them and they will come".  Soon, we had about 20 cadets lining up to get out of PT, work details, or otherwise homesick.

Anyway, I hope you realize that no matter what, just as a senior, you (FlyGuy) influenced more than a few cadets.  If you went home knowing that you made a difference, as did the encampment as a whole, then don't worry about the rest.   If anything, take good notes and change things in the future.  As I said in the Army, I learned more from bad leaders than I did from good.  Same goes for things like encampment.

Thank you Stonewall. You will have no idea how much I needed to hear that

Anyhoo, one day I want to run an encampment, but I fear that I'll put too much into it and burn myself out.  One time, I suggested to a few of the folks in CAP that I trust, mostly guys with 15 to 30 years experience in CAP as cadet, senior and military, to get together and put one solid encampment to go down in the history books.

where do I sign up? I would love to do this

[Stonewall]

Anyhoo, one day I want to run an encampment, but I fear that I'll put too much into it and burn myself out.  One time, I suggested to a few of the folks in CAP that I trust, mostly guys with 15 to 30 years experience in CAP as cadet, senior and military, to get together and put one solid encampment to go down in the history books.

where do I sign up? I would love to do this

Be careful what you wish for.  Lots of people out there that would warn you about working with me.  But of course, they're the ones who run the bad encampments we talked about.

[adamblank]

I have found nothing more challenging as cadet or as a senior than running an encampment.  I originally jumped at the chance, and I am so glad it will make a positive impact for the wing, but I definitely would not want to do it again for a little while.

[flyguy06]

Ok, so overall the Encampment was a success. I saw adets start out one way on Saturday and by the next week, they were changed for the better.

We had a female flight (we had two actually but I want to focus on one right now). They were young 11-13 year olds. At first,it was hard for them to adjust. They cried, they wanted to go home. The cadet Squadron Commander took them all together and she talked to them not as a cadet officer to cadet basics, but as a friend. a fellow cadet. She had them all go around and introduce themselves. and thats when we found the problem. They had been there for two days and really didnt know each other. After that talk, they came together and worked as a team the rest of the week, That folks was the hihglight of the encampment for me. You should have seen them onthe confidence course. they were supporting each other and motivating each other the whole way. The other female flight was older cadets while they had their issues too, it wasnt like the first group I mentioned.

I realized last week that dfferant wings do things differantly. There were a lot of FLWG people there and they had their own way of doing things. I kept trying to emphasize this is a region activity and not a FLWG activity. Some people listened and some did not.

I had heard rumors that last years SERWE didnt go so hot. I was not ther eso I do not know the specifics, but I was determined to make this one work, and for the most part I think we did ok.

The Dining In was interesting. I have been to plenty of military dining IN's but none like this one. They didnt go over the history of Dining In's. They had a Mr.Vice but the President of the mess did more talking and was the more charismatic one. Never seen that before.

All in all, it was a success because the cadets had a great time and they learned something about leadership and teamwork.

[Cmdbuddy]

11 year old cadets?

*scratches head*

[flyguy06]

11 year old cadets?

*scratches head*

you guys hold on to every little word I say. yes,in the middle school CAP program there are 11 year olds. But that wasnt really the point of the thread. maybe theywere 12. The pont is they were YOUNG ok and they learned to work together. Focus people

[Briski]

11 year old cadets?

*scratches head*

you guys hold on to every little word I say. yes,in the middle school CAP program there are 11 year olds. But that wasnt really the point of the thread. maybe theywere 12. The pont is they were YOUNG ok and they learned to work together. Focus people

That was not a personal attack on you...

[BlueLakes1]

I was an 11 year old cadet, and there was no middle school program then...

[Cmdbuddy]

11 year old cadets?

*scratches head*

you guys hold on to every little word I say. yes,in the middle school CAP program there are 11 year olds. But that wasnt really the point of the thread. maybe theywere 12. The pont is they were YOUNG ok and they learned to work together. Focus people

Focus?  On what?  You saying that overall there were a lot of bad stuff that happened at encampment (that put you in an altered mental state) but overall there was some good that came out of it?  OK, I can sit here and tell you the same thing that every other person has (*pat on the back* you did a great job... it's all about the cadets learning something... and don't get me wrong, it is).  Or, in the spirit of an actual discussion, we can actually digress a little about something you said.  *gasp*

In this case, I asked a question and made a learning experience out of it.  I didn't know that middle school program kids (we'll keep them separate here and not call them cadets) could attend Encampment.  Not laden with sarcasm- I did not know that.  I'd like to learn more about this.  I wouldn't be surprised, however, if I was told that they're not allowed to and you were just making something up to cover a mistake (instead of saying, "Do you have to be so picky?"... to which I would say, "Yes, if you're going to be interacting with cadets at a personal level such as Encampment, you should at least know what age they are allowed to join CAP")

From several posts I've read from you about SERWE, you seem like you told everybody else there how to do their job... is it really right to do that when you don't seem to know the rules yourself?

[flyguy06]

[/quote]


From several posts I've read from you about SERWE, you seem like you told everybody else there how to do their job... is it really right to do that when you don't seem to know the rules yourself?
[/quote]

I love you. 

No, actually I was the one being told what to do

[Cmdbuddy]

I love you. 

Errmm...

ok?

[mikeylikey]

Hooking up on CAPTALK.....not reccomended!

[Cmdbuddy]

Not interested...

Just curious where that came from.